May 7, 2010 9:00 pm

to

May 8, 2010 2:00 am

So just before the beginning of my month long funk, I ended up having to go to Hobart.

Firstly, it’s best not to ask what I was doing in Tasmania. Needless to say, it’s the kind of story that would Make Hunter S Thompson weep and attempt to adopt me as his late life son… If it weren’t for the fact he was already dead. The point is, Zombie S Thompson, it was a fucked up weekend.

The one saving grace being a certain, out of the way, little nightclub that actually turned out to be very fucking awesome: Coven.

At this point, I really need to reiterate for our newer readers that I don’t hand out compliments to clubs very often or very easily. Having been on the Goth scene for over a decade now, having bar tended a few of the clubs, run promotions for others, and done events management for a few years now, I see fault everywhere. So when I say a club is even just “good”, that’s already a pretty high rating.

Now Melbourne, as a city, is rather proud of its little hidden bars & cafes hidden down dark alleys that look like you’ll get stabbed for looking in let alone going down. It’s kind of our hallmark. A “we are sooo fucking tough” image we project to other capitals. But Hobart’s caught on. Coven is held at Halo, which is down a rather dingy alley that leads on to a parking lot, a lot of air vents & scaffolding… And a nondescript door that leads up four flights of stairs to the sound of pounding bass lines. Obscure location that looks dangerous: +3 gawth points.

Again, being based in Melbourne, when I’m not on a door list, I’m used to paying up to $25 to get into a club and the more than $10 for a premium spirit or $8 for a beer… Entry was $8 without a flier, premium spirits (i.e. Talisker) were $8. Beers that are premium here, such as Boags & Cascade were not only locals, they were $3.20 per pot. Cheap entry and free flowing liquor at affordable prices leaving plenty of cash for amphetamines if I’d spotted the dealers: +5 gawth points.

Being Hobart, you may be expecting not many people. A city of fewer than a million people, no specific stores to cater to the scene, nothing particularly bleak or depressing about it other than having to live there… They managed well over 100 through the door, and it showed. The venue was that level of crowded where it’s still possible to move & dance, but not without elbowing someone in the kidneys. Which was fairly pleasant as by and large, the crowd was not on the large sized side. attractive, average weight people that didn’t look like Clive Barker movie extras once the overhead lights came on: +4 gawth points.

Lastly, the music. As many of you are aware, my biggest bugbear about the gothic scene is how the majority of the music played at clubs is the same generic shirt I’ve had on my playlist since 2001, and it’s not even remixes. Whilst it was the same ol’ same old music, the DJs on the decks were actually mixing it through with other tracks and using samples I’d never heard before. Real DJing: +7 gawth points.

All in all, a great night with good tunes and legitimately interesting people that still had personalities after the crystalmeth wore off.

19 gawth points.

You might also like to read:

1. [TAS] The Coven
2. The Attic [SA]

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